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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25345318">At last</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Intheblackholeoffandoms/pseuds/Intheblackholeoffandoms'>Intheblackholeoffandoms</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Love is a promise [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Post-Episode: 2015 Xmas The Husbands of River Song, Sad Ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:34:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25345318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Intheblackholeoffandoms/pseuds/Intheblackholeoffandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A night on Darillium is 24 years and the Doctor intends to spend every minute of them with his wife before she goes.</p><p>At last they have peace<br/>At last they have some time</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Doctor/River Song, Twelfth Doctor/River Song</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Love is a promise [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2251467</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>At last</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I can't get over the fact that the Doctor chooses to spend the whole Darillium night with River so here an attempt at piecing together what the Doctor might be thinking as their time of peace begins</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>24 years. A night on Darillium is 24 years and the Doctor intends to spend every one of them with River. Their lives together have been spent running and fighting aliens and never truly taking a second to take the time to appreciate each other. Never taking a second to find true comfort in each other. Never having a chance to truly show their love. At last they have the time to revel in their love for each other.</p><p>They need time to heal. Both of them have been through so much pain because of each other and because of others. In River's arms, the Doctor needs comfort for the loss of so many of his friends. Rose. Donna. Amy and Rory. Clara. He is haunted by the experiences of his life and he needs the peace of these years to heal. At last he has that time. </p><p>He needs this time to take in River and commit her to memory. He knows that when this night is over she will go to library. She will go to her death. He tries not think about that as they look forward to this time of peace but it is inescapable. He wants to remember her like this - blissfully happy and without fear of what may happen. He wants her to remember him happy though he knows it will break her heart to go from this to seeing the man who does not know her. He remembers so clearly the pain on her face when she looked into his face and saw how young he was. Every time he has seen her since library has hurt because he has always known how it will end. The deeper he fell in love with her, the more painful it became. He doesn't like endings - it took him so long to let her go and so he will treasure these years before he has to let her go. It breaks his hearts.</p><p>He watches her now as she looks at the towers. He wonders not for the first time how he became so lucky to love this woman and have her love in return. He wants to show her that he truly loves her. He knows that he has been an inconstant husband and has left her doubting his true feelings. Her words today had made that abundantly clear and he had felt such guilt that he could never show his true feelings. He loves her so much. It took him so long to realize that he did and it had taken a lot of flirting on her part to get him to see. Every meeting with her had increased his love. He cannot pinpoint the moment that he truly knew but his confession as he had lain poisoned had been a culmination of so much. He had known at that moment that she needed to know. He has been grateful for that moment ever since. </p><p>After the chaos of their adventures he is grateful to have some peace before the end. He had had tears in his eyes - the promise of this night is overwhelming and he can't believe it is happening. </p><p>At last, the Doctor and his wife can live happily together, if only for a little time. Their story is ending but that doesn't mean it has to be sad.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've attempted to fix some tense issues - think I've caught them all</p></blockquote></div></div>
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